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By Tracy Moses
The House of Representatives has ordered an urgent investigation into the alleged non-release of intervention funds from development partners meant for Nigeria’s agricultural sector, warning that the delay could severely undermine food security and farming activities across the country.
The resolution, which was raised as a Matter of Urgent Public Importance, was sponsored by Hon. Bello A. Ka’oje and unanimously adopted at plenary on Thursday.
Leading the debate, Hon. Ka’oje reminded the House that shortly after his inauguration, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a state of emergency on food security on July 13, 2023, in response to rising hunger and declining agricultural output. He said the Federal Government, working with development partners, subsequently mobilised substantial financial support to boost agricultural production nationwide.
He explained that in February 2023, Nigeria signed a $134 million loan agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to support the National Agriculture Growth Scheme Agro-pocket Project (NAGS-AP). According to him, the first tranche of $99,665,000 was released to the Federation’s Consolidated Revenue Fund after the deduction of a 0.025 per cent front-end fee.
Hon. Ka’oje further disclosed that while the Federal Ministry of Finance released N55,986,301,549.95 and N40,486,800,000 to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security/NAGS-AP project accounts domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria, a balance of N55,295,810,075 remains outstanding.
“These funds were meant to provide critical farm inputs to 280,000 wheat farmers under the 2024/2025 dry season programme, as well as 150,000 rice farmers under the second phase of the intervention,” he said.
The lawmaker also informed the House that in April 2024, Nigeria entered into another loan agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for a Food Security Emergency Support Loan valued at 15 billion Japanese Yen.
He said the first tranche of 12 billion Yen, equivalent to N118,955,186,000 after fees, was disbursed to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in March 2025, with the funds earmarked to support 550,000 smallholder farmers across rice, maize, soya beans and cassava value chains during the 2025 wet season and the 2025/2026 dry season farming cycles.
Hon. Ka’oje lamented that delays in releasing the funds to the implementing agencies had left many farmers stranded without access to essential inputs.
“This has already reduced agricultural output during the 2025 harvests and now threatens the 2026 farming season,” he said.
“If urgent action is not taken, it could also prevent the disbursement of an additional $200 million under the AfDB’s Result-Based Financing scheme, which is contingent on the successful implementation of earlier interventions.”
He added,
“The intervention funds accessed from development partners are meant for specific purposes.
Their undue withholding by the Federal Ministry of Finance beyond the approved timeframe undermines agricultural production and jeopardises national food security.
Smallholder farmers are the backbone of our food system, and they cannot be made to suffer because of bureaucratic delays.”
Consequently, the House resolved to investigate the circumstances surrounding the non-release of the outstanding AfDB and JICA funds to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security under the NAGS-AP project. It also mandated the House Committee on Agricultural Production and Services to carry out the investigation and report back to the House within two weeks.
The motion was unanimously adopted, underscoring the House’s determination to ensure the timely release and proper utilisation of agricultural intervention funds to support farmers and strengthen national food security.